Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said Thursday that China’s recently announced RMB1 trillion (US$161.8 billion) local government debt-for-bond swap program would be carried out without aid from the country’s central bank and be based only on market demand, South China Morning Post reported. Asked to comment on a report that he might be kept in office beyond retirement age to retain command of the ministry as it restructured local government debt, Lou said he “would follow any arrangement” made by the leadership.
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